Comments

futile32: The problem I have with most 360 cameras is the gap between the two lenses. The resulting stitches are not very good and get worse with objects in the foreground. I really wanted to like the older Samsung, but the stitching issues were the big turn off. Given the similar design, I'm doubtful the new one has improved on this front, but we'll see.

Having a more slim design, I ended up buying the LG 360 before xmas for $90. Its actually a great little camera, and I have very few complaints. I got it primarily for snaps and documentary of my photography, and was pleasantly surprised by the results. The Video quality is a bit of a let down, but I knew that going in.

For me, 360 has actually turned out to be awesome for capturing memories.... I put the LG on my hot shoe of the A7RII and had it capture shots at intervals while I was out taking pictures. Using the timestamps I'm able to pair up the nearest 360 image with its resulting 'keeper' image from my A7RII.

@Garug yeah those examples are pretty good. When I tested the Nikon360 and Gear360 in the store the stitching really had issues. I think largely because people were in the shot, and the scenary was much closer to the camera than you'd get in an outdoor setting.

The problem I have with most 360 cameras is the gap between the two lenses. The resulting stitches are not very good and get worse with objects in the foreground. I really wanted to like the older Samsung, but the stitching issues were the big turn off. Given the similar design, I'm doubtful the new one has improved on this front, but we'll see.

Having a more slim design, I ended up buying the LG 360 before xmas for $90. Its actually a great little camera, and I have very few complaints. I got it primarily for snaps and documentary of my photography, and was pleasantly surprised by the results. The Video quality is a bit of a let down, but I knew that going in.

For me, 360 has actually turned out to be awesome for capturing memories.... I put the LG on my hot shoe of the A7RII and had it capture shots at intervals while I was out taking pictures. Using the timestamps I'm able to pair up the nearest 360 image with its resulting 'keeper' image from my A7RII.

Carl Mucks: It will be interesting to see if 85/1.8 is any good. Though it still looks overpriced compared to Canon, it's not as expensive as Batis. Unfortunately, Sony has a history of producing crappy lenses, so it's only reasonable to be skeptical at this point.

mick232: The 100mm STF is a clever move by Sony. The old STF was a lens that caused envy amongst users of other systems, so having an all-new STF lens for the E-mount could mean a new wave of switchers to the Sony system.

Feels like would make a good Studio lens. Speed not likely to cause grief there.

Ionian: $3200 and they're still pushing their useless, substandard flash mount instead of going back to the much more superior iIso mount. Gotta give Sony credit...it takes balls to double down on bad decisions and ask serious money for them.

@IonianI'm pretty sure Sony changed their flash mount like 3 years ago away from the Minolta one you dislike. The one they have now is more like the ISO mount you're talking about with some additional proprietary pins at the front for extra stuff.

Personally i preferred the older mount, but I'd think this would make you happy no?

crazyryoga: I don't get it, why they didn't make a FF instead of this, they would have sold so many more...Can't they afford a large production number maybe? I'm not arguing about the quality of this medium format, I just think it will be a niche product.

After seeing the sensor size I was surprised they didn't just go for FF too. It doesn't appear that much bigger... well I means not exactly 645

shutter2013: The spec sheet for this looks great on cursory glance until you dig a little deeper. I'm sure it will score well on DXO as the sensor is fantastic as demonstrated in the A7rii however a system is much more than a sensor. Dual SD card slots of UHS1 is ridiculous for file sizes the sensor puts out and I feel that Sony should have learnt from their A7rii camera where responsiveness and ability to clear the buffer is concerned. The type of photographer who shoots 8+ fps cares that the buffer can clear quickly and the camera can start taking the next burst. With a max of 95mb/s this will likely be the achilles heal. Why not use XQD or CFast. Hell even UDMA 7 compact flash can transfer significantly faster. Battery life is also quite disappointing. For event photographers this matters. Autofocus will be interesting - I feel that it will be a step up from Nikon in video but below Canon dual pixel technology. In stills I expect Canonikon to still lead. Interesting camera all the same

I came across this DPreview youtube video showing the focusing speed and buffer clearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYYOVXIuxf0

Looks fast. I like the clearing indicator too. Would like to know when you can start firing again though.... seems like the indicator would be more useful in reverse.

shutter2013: The spec sheet for this looks great on cursory glance until you dig a little deeper. I'm sure it will score well on DXO as the sensor is fantastic as demonstrated in the A7rii however a system is much more than a sensor. Dual SD card slots of UHS1 is ridiculous for file sizes the sensor puts out and I feel that Sony should have learnt from their A7rii camera where responsiveness and ability to clear the buffer is concerned. The type of photographer who shoots 8+ fps cares that the buffer can clear quickly and the camera can start taking the next burst. With a max of 95mb/s this will likely be the achilles heal. Why not use XQD or CFast. Hell even UDMA 7 compact flash can transfer significantly faster. Battery life is also quite disappointing. For event photographers this matters. Autofocus will be interesting - I feel that it will be a step up from Nikon in video but below Canon dual pixel technology. In stills I expect Canonikon to still lead. Interesting camera all the same

@EvildogofdoomThanks for those numbers I didn't see em. I'm not sure 54 frames is enough at 12 FPS. Hopefully it will clear quickly at least.

shutter2013: The spec sheet for this looks great on cursory glance until you dig a little deeper. I'm sure it will score well on DXO as the sensor is fantastic as demonstrated in the A7rii however a system is much more than a sensor. Dual SD card slots of UHS1 is ridiculous for file sizes the sensor puts out and I feel that Sony should have learnt from their A7rii camera where responsiveness and ability to clear the buffer is concerned. The type of photographer who shoots 8+ fps cares that the buffer can clear quickly and the camera can start taking the next burst. With a max of 95mb/s this will likely be the achilles heal. Why not use XQD or CFast. Hell even UDMA 7 compact flash can transfer significantly faster. Battery life is also quite disappointing. For event photographers this matters. Autofocus will be interesting - I feel that it will be a step up from Nikon in video but below Canon dual pixel technology. In stills I expect Canonikon to still lead. Interesting camera all the same

@shutter2013You're not wrong, the Buffer and Write Speed are going to make or break the usefulness of this cameras FPS

nicchiaphoto: 12 fps with a 42 mp sensor is amazing. It still won't be a perfect choice for sport photographer probably because of EVF lag, but it's amazing anyway.4k full sensor readout with no pixel binning is also incredible. think of the canon 5d IV that has 30% less pixels and needs a 1.7 crop...

futile32: "The FE 50mm F1.4 ZA, like most recent Sony lenses, focuses stopped down at your selected aperture. This means that autofocus performance steadily drops as you stop down..."

@Rishi I noticed a weird behavior like this on my A7RM2 & 35mm F1.4, actually to the point where the camera wouldn't focus at all above F8 in a very bright situation. Figured it was a Firmware bug.

I then changed my AF mode to AF-S and this stopping down doesn't appear to happen during AF. It seems, that at least on my body and lens combo, it only happens in AF-C, which is weird.

Is this your observation too?

@Rishi I may be misunderstanding your statement, but I just checked my setup and this is what I observe...

I just looked at my 35mm F1.4 on the A7RM2. On both AF-S and AF-C it always opens back up to an opening that is representative of F2.0 when I focus... i.e.. If I set the aperture to F1.4 - F2.0 the iris doesn't change, if I set it to anything above F2.0 it stops down to F2.0 momentarily during focus.

The problem I note is that if I set the aperture to F10 (sorry before I'd said F8) or above and have AF-C turned on, the camera initially opens up to F2.0 (by my eye) gets focus, closes down and then pulses in and out losing focus (I'm guessing contrast focus issues), like its struggling. I haven't tested this with other lenses, but noted it recently with the 35mm F1.4 and figured I'd find out if others are seeing this behavior too.

They're going up against proven legacy (which were recently updated) versions from Canon and Nikon which cost 20% less?

Aren't you supposed to draw people into your product line and develop a following before demanding a premium versus your competition.

Clearly Sony is content grasping onto their tiny market share and elitist niche market. That existing crowd will (reluctantly) shell out the $$$, but there's a 0% chance this lens will persuade a single Nikon / Canon shooter to even look in the direction of Sony - kinda like they've just given up the notion entirely!

I would guess they are not having much of a problem selling lenses these days given their market increase. I would therefore bet they are quite comfortable inflating their prices like this.

Either that, or they are competing with established competition by using prices to convince people of their own prestige.

straylightrun: Considering the fact that the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 and Sony 50mm f/1.8 lenses already exists, I would of thought that a compact 35mm f/2 lens would have been a higher priority than another 50mm lens priced at $1500.

Yeah I would have loved a 35mm f1.8/f2 somewhere in the 55mm sizing. I bought the 35mm f2.8 and the 35mm f1.4 and I struggle to pick between them. The f1.4 is too large to justify a spot in my bag on hike trips.

Raist3d: I just don't understand why Sony gave priority to do with lens with the great FE 55mm f1.8 around.

The FE 55 f1.8 is one of their very best lenses and much smaller. I don't get it. Can someone with a need for this new lens that shoots Sony with real world photography experience tell me what his promises that would be wanted over the 55mm?

Thanks (honest question)

50mm f.14 is just a staple for any system line up. I think a lot of uninformed people would have skipped over the 55mm f1.8 purely cause of the numbers.

This is a lens they had to make (eventually), I'm just disappointed at the price. It's about twice as expensive as it should be. I mean the canon f1.2 is cheaper.